As if none of these elements were horrifying enough on their own, the story I'm about to tell you features a veritable trifecta of teenage dysfunction: Teen pregnancy? Check. Bullying? Check. Violent crime? Yep. Oh wait, there's even a fourth nugget of terror! I forgot about the alleged police brutality.
Oh yes, it's just another heartwarming tale about the lives of teens today. So heartwarming, in fact, that it made me change my mind about something pretty major. But I'll get to that in a minute.
Anyway, 17-year-old Clerissa Loucks of the Bronx was arrested last week for spraying two girls who were allegedly bullies in the faces with pepper spray. But just wait until you hear who gave Clerissa the Mace!
Clerissa's mom, of course, Tracy Morales (who was arrested along with her daughter). But Morales insists she'd do the same thing if she had to do it over again: Clerissa is 4 months pregnant and she needed some way to defend herself against the relentless bullies. Although, as it turned out, Clerissa claims the NYPD wasn't much better. She says they slammed her down on the ground face-down and sat on her, and showed off her bruises for TV cameras.
Oh god, my head hurts. Do you have a headache yet?
My first instinct, when I read this story, was to side with Morales. Or at least to sympathize with her as a mom: Her kid was being threatened; she was worried about her safety and figured the risk of getting caught with Mace wasn't as bad as the risk of getting beaten to a pulp.
But then I thought about it some more.
And possibly because this story makes me want to go hide in a dark closet until my kids are 30, I had a change of heart. I've always said I would never, ever want to homeschool my kids -- benefits of social interaction, broader horizons, etc.
But if my daughter was in a situation like this one? Knocked up and struggling to make it through a world of everyday violence?
I think I'd just pull her out of school. Simple as that. And if transferring to another school was impossible, I'd figure out a way to homeschool her myself.
I mean, enough already. The bullying thing is getting out of control, the teen pregnancy thing is a joke. Somebody press the reset button, or I'm not going to play at all.
And neither are my kids.
What would you do if Clerissa was your kid?
Image via Eddie S/Flickr
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Comments 13
If my 17 year old pregnant daughter was getting bullied I would have given her mace too, but like you said I would have pulled her out that school too and put her in another one or have her finish her senior year(which I'm guessing she is in) during the summer or something.
Why was the mother arrested?
I am APPALED though that the police would throw a pregnant woman face/belly down on the ground and SIT on her! Shame.
why would she put her unborn child's life at risk by fighting? I have been seriously thinking about my son since he was born. Her mom should have taken her out of that school or homeschooled. she is teaching her daughter to be a bully too.
Xavier: I guess I missed the part where self defense was bullying? Have you ever been attacked from behind or anything? These girls could have jumped the daughter, who then used pepper spray as self defense.
But yeah, I can see how that equals bullying...
(on a side note, Pepper Spray and Mace are two different things. Mace is illegal.)
I would have done the same thing Morales did.
Sorry, sometimes, it's not possible for a parent to homeschool a child when they have to go earn a paycheck.
I hope she files a suit against the NYPD. I'm usually all for the boys in blue, but from what it sounds like, they took it too far.
@Chalon...where do you live? Might want to move there. We're pretty good with the self-defense laws where I'm at. Just NEVER EVER NEVER shoot a person in the back means they were trying to run away...or some other legal bs...
I completely agree with her bringing whatever she felt like she needed to protect herself but hopefully she notified the school beforehand that she felt this threatened by this group of girls. If the pregnant girl reported this to the school then they should have no right to press charges against her. I feel that schools are not doing their job of keeping kids safe and self defense is self defense I don't care if you're in a parking lot or your school library. I have two small children and I am considering homeschooling them because I REFUSE to have my children go to school everyday in fear. If a bully is reported to ANY school they should get one warning, the second time they are reported they should be suspended, the third time they should be kicked out of the school and have to do community service. There should be NO TOLERANCE for bullies.